Surprise

Last weekend my dad came down for the day to spend time with the kiddos. You can tell they were VERY surprised!

Austin Rodeo Gala

Weeks ago we got together with a bunch of friends and attended the Austin Rodeo Gala.

Once we got there we were greeted by a 13 year old Longhorn. He was very calm and gentle however I was very nervous to get behind his horns. A few times he would move his head a few inches one way and I could feel the pure strength of this animal. 

During the silent auction I came across the Livestrong package..... I had to laugh and snap a picture because of what someone has wrote down. Then after I thought about it I started to feel bad for the actual foundation.

We enjoyed lots of great food and a fantastic concert from Dirks Bentley. 

All in all, it was a great night!

Happy Birthday

Last weekend we threw a small "Princess and the Frog" birthday for Ainsley and her 5 girlfriends from school. It was very low key and relaxing which was a change for me. 

A few weeks we passed out her party invitations that were magical wands!

Festivities included:

 Fairy Godmother Slipper Shoppe- where everyone danced around in play heels.

Royal Ball- the girls tossed around playground balls

and Tiara decorating.

              

Happy 2 years Ainsley Keane.

You are a remarkable little girl full of spunk, a outgoing personality and a love for knowledge. 

You like to be held, love to sit and read and play puzzles and adore all your babies. You wake up in the morning asking for a bow but are not afraid to play in the mud. You are a music lover and are not afraid to yell at me to change the radio station if you don't like a song. At the age of two you have almost mastered the lyrics to the TCU fight song. You are a great helper and have a heart of gold because you are always wanting to take care of others.

You are an exceptional little pickle!

Upward Basketball

After football season I was eager to start a whole new sport. I wasn't sure if Drew would be interested in it, even though he said he would. The first practice was interesting to say the least. My child has not played the game before or even seen a game on TV. So it was no shock to me when I noticed that he could not pass the ball with one bounce. 

I figured he needed a little sports diversity. 

The coach is a very patient guy and loves to teach the team "secret" plays. 

We are about half way through with his season and he's made a lot of improvement!! 

At the first game he'd prefer to hang out under the basket while the his teammates ran back and forth. 

He loves to "cover" his guy and play defense with his hands in the air. 

We are still working on our shot's but he'd rather pass to another player instead of shooting. 

Works for me!

Pictures from a busy mom

This particular Christmas break was on for the record books. We got out of school just a few days before Christmas Day, so I was a little nervous about finding the time to finish all my shopping and stocking stuffers for the kids. On the upside, I didn't have enough time to do it all so I ended up saving some money!!!

The absolute BEST thing about the break was having both holidays at the BEGINNING of the break, therefore leaving a full week of relaxing, sleeping in and enough time to clean up all the Christmas mess!!!

So it's back to work, school, getting up early and the daily grind of reality. 

But it's my sweet reality that I live in . 

New Years Eve

We celebrated the night in style with 9 adults and only 4 kids.

Ainsley and Evan partied hard until 8 pm, then they went to bed.

Drew and Connor were up until 10 or so..... then they faded.

We played Scategories and Taboo for a few hours.

It resulted in a lot of debates and voting.

Gerard, came in from South Africa on business and he really enjoyed us "Americans".

He really loved the games but had a hard time with Taboo. He didn't understand words like DEAR ABBY. We were kind and allowed him to pass without a penalty. 

Happy New Year!!

(minus the Smith's & Gerard)

Her 4 Favorite Things....

There are 4 things in this world that my pickle cannot live without.....

Addie, Elmo, Lovey & Baby.

(pictured left to right)

Her lovey was a gift given to her as a baby and she's slept with it every night since then.

Elmo came along around 8 months ago when I was cleaning out Drew's closet and found it.

Drew was never into Elmo however Ainsley was fan from the get-go. 

Baby was a birthday gift and Addie came from Santa. 

Every night she has to sleep with all 4 of these items and every morning she's hollering all their names.